Switchable UWB pulse generation using a polarization maintaining fiber Bragg grating as frequency discriminator

We propose and successfully demonstrate a novel approach to optically generate ultrawideband (UWB) pulse with switchable shape and polarity by using a polarization-maintaining fiber Bragg grating (PM-FBG) as frequency discriminator. Depending on the shape of the reflective spectrum of the PM-FBG, the system can function as a first- or second-order differentiator for the generation of Gaussian UWB monocycle or doublet pulses. Consequently, the shape and the polarity of the generated UWB pulse can be switched by simple adjustment of a polarization controller (PC). Gaussian monocycle and doublet pulses were successfully obtained with fractional bandwidths of about 188% and 152%, respectively. Higher-order UWB pulses with spectrum covering from 2.9 GHz to 9.8 GHz have also been obtained through adjustment of the PC. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America